Mikel Arteta has put pen to paper on a new deal with Arsenal, which extends his stay at the Emirates until the summer of 2025.
After signing the latest agreement with the Gunners at the club's home ground, Arteta pledged to take them to the "next level".
On being asked about what would be his goals for the side in the next couple of years, the 40-year-old stressed making Arsenal a regular in the Champions League.
"To take the club to the next level and to compete really with the top teams. In order to do that, we have to be playing in the Champions League," he told the club's official website. "We have to be able to evolve the team, improve our players, improve all departments, generate even more connection with our fans, improve the atmosphere at the Emirates, be able to recruit top, top talent and the best people for this club to drive this project to that level."
Arteta was joined by his women's team counterpart Jonas Eidevall at the club's headquarters this morning, where both the men signed their new contracts.
While Arteta declared that he was immensely "excited, grateful and really, really happy" after agreeing to prolong his association with the men's team, Eidevall said: "It's great. It allows me to continue to work for a club that I love so much and be around people that I really, really like, and to be able to achieve things together, so I'm really looking forward to that."
Eidevall joined the club at the start of the 2021-22 season and has tasted remarkable success, with Arsenal's women's team still fighting for the Women's Super League title.
At the moment, they are a point behind leaders Chelsea, who have 53 after 21 games, while Eidevall's side has 52 after the same number of matches.
Coming back to Arteta, his first task would be to ensure that his men end their present campaign inside the top-four in the Premier League.
Though Granit Xhaka and company are currently fourth on the charts with 63 points, Tottenham are snapping at their heels with 61. With just four matches remaining, any slip-up at this juncture could cost them dearly.